Monday we will meet in Lean Lecture Hall at 8 AM with Gidon Bromberg, who will be giving the forum talk Monday evening – Water and Middle East Peace – Challenges and Opportunities (7:30 PM).

Along the lines of local versus organic foods. You should know about the Farmer’s Market in Wooster that is open downtown in the heart of the city each Saturday through October. In addition Local Roots just south of downtown connects local producers with consumers. Many student are involved with these organizations.

Coring at Bonnett Pond – just how much are modern day agricultural practices affecting erosion? How about over the past 200 years?This coring last week aims to get at these questions:

Two hundred years of Agriculture, Energy and Environmental Change in Wayne County, Ohio

2012 is the Bicentennial of Wayne County Ohio. During these last two hundred years the landscape has transitioned from prairie and forest to agriculture and a largely built landscape. The parallel history of energy began with mills and water power, and was followed by coal. Currently, a controversial shale oil and gas industry is burgeoning. Water, fossil fuels, sand and gravel, stone and clay, and timber and agricultural products significantly add to the economy and to the environmental, societal and economic impacts on the region and the globe.
How do we value the landscape, soil, and climate, and how are decisions made that seek to maintain the balance between preservation and human needs? With these questions in mind, we will examine the impact of resource development on communities and countries, and provide a context in which to examine oil and gas development in the Northeast United States. Readings will include portions of 1491- New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, A Sand County Almanac, Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations, A Thousand Barrels a Second, Uranium, Feeding the Fire, Oak: The Frame of Civilizations, and Sand.

FYS CORE LEARNING OBJECTIVES

– Students should be able to develop the abilities, especially the writing skills, that are essential to critical thinking.

– Students should be able to interpret complex theoretical and creative texts.

– Students should be able to construct a coherent argument, support the argument with evidence, and defending the argument.

– Students should be able to understand, appreciate, and objectively critique multiple perspectives including one’s own